Retrenched Australian staffers of e-commerce integration company Rare Medium are wondering what hit them.
Rare Medium abruptly shuttered its Australian operations on Friday after a year of activity in which it picked up clients such as AMP and Fuji-Xerox.
Staffers said they had no advance warning of the move and described severance packages as "tiny".
It is rumoured that the US-headquartered Rare Medium is also planning to shut its office in Toronto; however, its regional headquarters in Singapore does not appear to be affected by the cutbacks.
Ex-staffers said they were shocked when they arrived at the office on Friday to be told to pick up their personal papers and hand in their keys.
Within an hour and a half of the announcement, none had access to email and were being ushered off the premises.
A Nasdaq-listed company, Rare Medium reportedly has 1200 employees in 20 offices around the world and $US200 million in cash.